Soccer: Holy Family falls 2-1 to Sun Devils

Tigers' postseason run ends with home loss to Kent Denver

By James Melillo BoCoPreps.com

Posted:
11/02/2012 09:17:13 PM MDT

Holy Family soccer's defenders did an exceptional job of marking their men and limiting Kent Denver's opportunities to score throughout the course of Friday afternoon's Class 3A quarterfinals match. But the fourth-seeded Tigers' inability to keep free kicks out of their own net proved to be their downfall in the 2-1 loss.

The Sun Devils, seeded fifth in the tournament, scored twice off of dead balls, the second of which came from 50 yards out and broke a tie in the 73rd minute, as Holy Family's postseason run came to an end in front of the Tigers' home fans.

"I think we definitely dealt with some of their better team players, we shut them down and they really were not a factor," Holy Family coach Kathy Hogan said of the defensive effort. "Just some calls go the wrong way and they get those free kicks, and we knew they were really dangerous on those."

After a first half in which the two teams were each able to put just one shot on goal each, the second 40 minutes proved to be much livelier.

Holy Family (12-4-2) had a great chance in the 47th minute, when senior striker Nick Rhoden chipped a shot from 16 yards out that sent Kent Denver's goalie racing back into his net. The ball bounced off the crossbar and ricocheted toward Tiger midfielder Patrick Borer, who headed the rebound back toward the goal. But the Sun Devil keeper returned to the field of play just in time to make the save and thwart the danger.

"I was hoping that Patrick could have headed it back in, but the keeper was in the right place at the right time," Rhoden said. "We weren't able to follow through and the ball just didn't go in for us."

Kent Denver (14-3-1) countered quickly, attacking the Holy Family end and earning a foul on the left side of the field 25 yards out. Defender Cole Evans played a ball that bounced into the center of the box, apparently meant for a teammate. But a miscommunication between the Tigers' keeper and back line allowed the ball to skip past both and into the corner of the net for the game's first goal.

Holy Family responded in the 63rd minute when senior Preston Arguello sped past the Sun Devils' defense to chase down a long pass from defender Dylan Pilkington. The striker buried a shot from 12 yards out to even the score 1-1 and bring the Tigers' faithful back to life.

But the home team was unable to capitalize on the momentum swing. Following a call against Holy Family near midfield, the Sun Devils' Evans drilled a ball toward goal that carried all the way into the top left corner of the net. With 7 minutes left in the game, the demoralizing score served as the final nail in the coffin for the Tigers.

Holy Family fell despite dominating possession throughout much of the night, particularly in the first half.

The Tigers' ability to maintain control of the ball was thanks largely to their midfield, a unit that was anchored by team captains Borer and Jay Elliott.

"(They were) tremendous," Hogan said. "Patrick (Borer) works so hard off the ball getting forward and Jay is just somebody you don't want to go against, because he is such a strong player and can go offensively and is a solid defender as well. They definitely held the team to the standard we had this year."

While Elliot will be lost to graduation, the Tigers should have little trouble building around Borer and the rest of those returning next year. This season's elite eight squad was composed of as many seniors, six, as freshmen.

With the win Kent Denver earns a trip to the state semifinals, where they will face eighth-seeded Faith Christian. Faith beat top-seeded Classical Academy 1-0 Friday night to punch its ticket to the final four.

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